Fintech Friday Recap #3 – Top News Items from the past week

This is our weekly recap of the crypto world. In these recaps we'll mention the top 5 most interesting news from the past 7 days and link to more in depth resources about them.

The Maltese Magnet!

After Binance moved its HQ to Malta, it looks like another exchange is following suit: OKEx. OKEx is currently based in Hong Kong which has lately come down hard on ICOs and exchanges with rules and restrictions, so a mass exodus to “blockchain island” is in progress.

OKEx's Tim Byun said they're looking forward to cooperating with Malta's government, with which they share values in regards to protecting investors and the public, and in regards to KYC, AML, and further development of blockchain technology.

Guten Morgen, JP Morgan

A lawsuit befell JPMorgan who have been accused of charging exorbitant fees and interest rates for cryptocurrency purchases. The lawsuit came when customers realized they weren't getting the extra fees back.

This big American bank says that they disabled crypto purchases with credit cards because of increased risk (same as some British banks), but still allow the use of their Chase debit cards for such purchases without extra fees. This proved to be untrue as customers were dramatically overcharged without warning and possibility of refund. JP was collectively sued for a meager 1 million dollars which they will easily cover, and then some.

European Blockchain Partnership (without Croatia)

Tuesday, April 10th, was the date when 22 EU countries joined a European Blockchain Partnership. The partnership's focus will be blockchain technology, regulation and education for the private and public sectors, and maintaining a leading world position in blockchain development.

All other EU countries have been invited to join, though some, like Croatia, have outright refused to sign the agreement. The country's blockchain NGO UBIK is working on repairing this relationship and getting the country to join after the fact.

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) have too many downsides when compared to private cryptocurrencies, says one of the members of Switzerland's National Bank's Board of Executives.

Andréa Maechler said private cryptocurrencies carry less risk because CBDCs might cause a “bank run” – a mass exodus of money from banks – because of private citizen worries about financial stability and bank solvency. She also notes that cryptocurrencies don't meet key requirements to be money and although blockchain technology has the potential to reduce transfer costs and increase transparency, it still doesn't satisfy all conditions for RTGS (real-time-gross-settlement) payment systems.

Vietnam hanging itself by the blockchain noose

This week marked the end of the biggest ICO scam yet. Pincoin and Ifan, ERC20 tokens, gathered 660 million USD in their ICOs, thereby damaging 32 thousand investors.

This prompted Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the Vietnamese prime minister, to force the government and regulators into intensifying cryptocurrency related measures. He said that cryptocurrencies and ICO crowdfunding obviously took a very wrong turn and that the whole ordeal is a matter of a very high degree of risk for the financial system and general peace in the community. Vietnam's Central Bank was ordered to cease all cryptocurrency related business while the Ministry of Justice is in charge of finishing regulatory definitions as soon as possible.

If you found this article useful or interesting, please consider donating to keep our operation running.

The Maltese Magnet!

After Binance moved its HQ to Malta, it looks like another exchange is following suit: OKEx. OKEx is currently based in Hong Kong which has lately come down hard on ICOs and exchanges with rules and restrictions, so a mass exodus to “blockchain island” is in progress.

OKEx's Tim Byun said they're looking forward to cooperating with Malta's government, with which they share values in regards to protecting investors and the public, and in regards to KYC, AML, and further development of blockchain technology.

Guten Morgen, JP Morgan

A lawsuit befell JPMorgan who have been accused of charging exorbitant fees and interest rates for cryptocurrency purchases. The lawsuit came when customers realized they weren't getting the extra fees back.

This big American bank says that they disabled crypto purchases with credit cards because of increased risk (same as some British banks), but still allow the use of their Chase debit cards for such purchases without extra fees. This proved to be untrue as customers were dramatically overcharged without warning and possibility of refund. JP was collectively sued for a meager 1 million dollars which they will easily cover, and then some.

European Blockchain Partnership (without Croatia)

Tuesday, April 10th, was the date when 22 EU countries joined a European Blockchain Partnership. The partnership's focus will be blockchain technology, regulation and education for the private and public sectors, and maintaining a leading world position in blockchain development.

All other EU countries have been invited to join, though some, like Croatia, have outright refused to sign the agreement. The country's blockchain NGO UBIK is working on repairing this relationship and getting the country to join after the fact.

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) have too many downsides when compared to private cryptocurrencies, says one of the members of Switzerland's National Bank's Board of Executives.

Andréa Maechler said private cryptocurrencies carry less risk because CBDCs might cause a “bank run” – a mass exodus of money from banks – because of private citizen worries about financial stability and bank solvency. She also notes that cryptocurrencies don't meet key requirements to be money and although blockchain technology has the potential to reduce transfer costs and increase transparency, it still doesn't satisfy all conditions for RTGS (real-time-gross-settlement) payment systems.

Vietnam hanging itself by the blockchain noose

This week marked the end of the biggest ICO scam yet. Pincoin and Ifan, ERC20 tokens, gathered 660 million USD in their ICOs, thereby damaging 32 thousand investors.

This prompted Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the Vietnamese prime minister, to force the government and regulators into intensifying cryptocurrency related measures. He said that cryptocurrencies and ICO crowdfunding obviously took a very wrong turn and that the whole ordeal is a matter of a very high degree of risk for the financial system and general peace in the community. Vietnam's Central Bank was ordered to cease all cryptocurrency related business while the Ministry of Justice is in charge of finishing regulatory definitions as soon as possible.

If you found this article useful or interesting, please consider donating to keep our operation running.

Bruno has a Master's Degree in English Language and Literature and Computer Science, and has been in web development and publishing for over a decade. He's been in the blockchain space since 2015. He's an avid board gamer and VR enthusiast - find him on Oculus and Steam as TheSwader. He frequently rants on Twitter.